


Challenging party

by PeterHaleforAlpha



Category: Star Trek: Discovery
Genre: Gen, just something cute and fluffy, secret santa gift
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-28
Updated: 2017-12-28
Packaged: 2019-02-23 01:41:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,574
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13179669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PeterHaleforAlpha/pseuds/PeterHaleforAlpha
Summary: Michael doesn't like parties but Tilly makes sure that she enjoys them, and drags her over to the handsome looking Vulcan Michael keeps staring at, not knowing that this is Sarek's son and Michael's brother.





	Challenging party

**Author's Note:**

> This is a secret santa gift for [ Morgan](http://forfuckssakejim.tumblr.com/)!  
> I hope you enjoy this little ficlet <3

Parties were still a mystery to Michael. At least this one was more formal than the last one she attended. She wasn’t the only one that was wearing her formal uniform. Still, she felt out of place, not sure how she should engage in this kind of emotional celebration. Remaining near the wall she hoped not to get noticed. However she had forgot that Tilly was here too. 

“So who is he?” she asked, taking a sip from her colourful beverage. 

A little confused, Michael furrowed her brow. “Who are you referring to?” 

Tilly rolled her eyes. “The handsome Vulcan over there who you keep staring at as if no one else were in this room.” Tilly slid closer. “You think he’s cute?” 

Michael blinked a few times in irritation. Tilly usually evoked this kind of reaction in Michael. She was irritated by this young girl but especially because she noticed stuff about Michael that the young woman didn’t even notice about herself. She hadn’t been aware that she had been staring at this man. 

“So, who is he?” 

Michael looked at the man once more, studying him. “This is Lieutenant Commander Spock. Second Officer and Science Officer of the USS Enterprise.” 

“Enterprise, huh?” Tilly’s eyes got wide, excitement sparkling in them. “Let’s talk to him. You always tell me to keep my goal in front of my eye. Speaking to a high ranking officer of the Enterprise, getting to know him, introducing myself, can only improve my chances of becoming a Captain someday.” 

Tilly had grabbed her hand and before Michael could protest in any way she was pulled along.  

“Lieutenant Commander Spock, it’s an honour to meet you,” Tilly chattered away. “I’m Cadet Sylvia Tilly, science officer on the USS Discovery.”

Spock turned around, raising an eyebrow while watching Tilly closely and then nodded his head a little. “The honour is with me. The USS Discovery is a fascinating ship. I have heard interesting stories about it and especially about the spore drive.” 

Michael could hear that Spock was honest and sincere. The science of this ship probably intrigued him as it had Michael when she first got there. She had been fascinated by the ingenuity of the human species. Knowing that he would be occupied, and Tilly as well, she tried to sneak away without any of them noticing but before she could take a step, Spock had seen her. “Michael,” he said. Just her name, nothing more. 

So she nodded towards him. “It is a pleasure to meet you again, Lieutenant Commander Spock.” Michael tried to keep it professional. They had never been very close, had barely seen each other while growing up, and after their last meeting where they had undergone a mindmeld Michael didn’t want anything else than to be far far away right now. She was aware that this urge was fueled by her human emotions, more precisely shame. And this was even one more reason why she wanted to be far away from Spock. To get her human emotions in check and to bury them deep down inside of her.

“I have heard that you serve on the USS Discovery now.” 

Michael couldn’t pinpoint the tone of his voice. She had no idea if this was just a neutral observation, hidden disapproval because he had the same viewpoint as everyone else and thought that she belonged in prison for her crimes, or maybe even pride of her accomplishments. The last one she could probably cross off the list. Vulcans didn’t feel pride, not even half-Vulcans. It was probably the second one, but Michael just hoped that it was the first one. She could live with neutral observation. 

And so she reacted accordingly with a simple nod. “I’m a specialist in the science department. I work with Cadet Tilly,” she said and hoped that she could point the conversation back to Tilly. For a change she could use Tilly’s ability to speak 212 words per minute. She turned around to her in hope she would carry on where Michael had left off but Tilly just stared at them with an half open mouth.

“You know each other?” she asked incredulously. 

Spock just nodded and Michael sighed internally. She didn’t want to head in this direction. But she knew Tilly and she would poke until she got the answers she desired. “This is Spock, son of Sarek and Amanda.” 

Tilly’s mouth widened even more. “Oh my god, he is your brother. This is amazing. I always wanted to meet someone of Michael’s family.” She turned to Spock. “Okay, actually I saw Sarek when we saved him but he was mostly unconsciousness the entire time. So it’s really great to meet you,” Tilly rambled and reached out her hand. Michael was quick to stop her and pulled the hand back. Vulcans weren’t too keen on physical touch, especially not without permission. “Oh my god, sorry,” she said when she noticed her mistake. Quickly she put her hands behind her back and bowed down a little. “I’m so sorry. You two probably have so much to catch up on. I should go.” 

Tilly was gone as fast as she had dragged Michael into this uncomfortable situation. So Michael was left alone and the only thing she wanted to do was run after Tilly to get away from here.

“She is quite … passionate,” Spock commented.

Michael nodded. “Indeed she is. And she is one of the brightest minds I have ever met. She will make it far in Starfleet.” 

“As did you.” 

A little surprised about this statement Michael just looked at Spock. She had no idea what she should respond to something like that.

“I have heard the stories.” 

Michael scoffed. “Everyone has heard the stories. Michael Burnham, the mutineer.” Michael liked to pretend not to care when someone was calling her by this title. She used it herself to make sure that they wouldn’t think that she was hurt. But she hated it. She was more than this one moment that was defining her entire life now. The last months on the Discovery had let her believe that this could change, that these people saw more in her now than they did before. That might be right. But the entire rest of the universe hadn’t worked with her, hadn’t got to know her. She was still Michael Burnham, the mutineer.

“I was not referring to this unfortunate incident,” Spock said, his voice neutral. Michael couldn’t decipher what Spock thought about it. She wasn’t even sure if she wanted to know this, wanted to hear his opinion on this matter but nevertheless she tried to hear it from the tone of his voice. She was pathetic. 

“What are you referring to then?” There were no other stories of Michael Burnham. Everybody just thought about her as the mutineer. As soon as they heard her name their thoughts were clear. 

“I have heard that you played an essential role in ending this war.” 

Michael shook her head. “The entire crew of the Discovery was part of that. There is no such thing as one hero on board of a ship. We all did our part and I did mine.” 

For the slightest moment Michael thought she had seen a small smile around Spock’s lips. But it was gone so quickly that the young woman wasn’t sure if she had just imagined it. 

“I am convinced if our father would express these emotions he would be proud of you.” 

Once again Michael just stared at Spock, not sure what to say. Spock had never referred to Sarek as Michael’s father. They weren’t blood related and Spock even barely talked about Sarek as his own father. They had a complicated relationship that Michael didn’t know much about. They were both too stubborn to talk about it. 

So this right here was one of the highest praises that Michael could get from Spock. And as she had learned from Philippa how to react to a compliment, she smiled at Spock. “Thank you,” she said. 

Spock bowed down a little. “You are welcome.” 

For several minutes there was a silence around them, neither of them knowing what to say next. “Would you like to know more about the spore drive?” Michael asked after a while.

“Of course. Everything I have heard so far was fascinating. To talk to someone who actually worked with it would be a pleasure.” 

Michael smiled and turned around a little, searching for Tilly. “We should let Tilly join in this conversation. She loves to talk about her science.” When she found the red hair sticking out of the crowd, she waved her over. Of course Tilly had watched them closely the entire time. She was too curious for her own good. Michael was certain that she would need to tell her everything she had just discussed with Spock, and probably their whole history as well. But right now she just wanted to have a little fun.

And talking about science was fun. 

“I was just starting to explain Spock our spore drive,” Michael said when Tilly arrived. “I thought you would like to join this conversation.”

“Oh god yes,” she grinned and started to ramble without even stopping for air. 

Michael watched Spock closely and seeing him listen intently to her best friend with interest in his eyes, Michael was suddenly glad that Tilly had dragged her over to Spock. 


End file.
